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Former Twitter COO and ex-Goldman banker Anthony Noto just finished his first month on the job as CEO of SoFi, the "unicorn" financial services company whose founding CEO was booted late last year after misconduct allegations.

Noto and I recently chatted about the new job, leaving the old job, recruiting (SoFi yesterday added Michelle Gill as CFO), expansion plans and competing with Goldman Sachs.

We also discussed fundraising, with Noto denying conventional wisdom on SoFi's IPO plans:

"I’m not aware of any specific plans the company had in terms of a timetable for going public. I think there was a lot of hearsay around that. In 2018 an IPO was not a priority. In terms of fundraising, we are well capitalized. It’s one of our strengths. We have no plans nor need to raise capital this year."

•ICYMI: Cryptocurrency company Ripple recently donated $29 million to fully fund every single one of the 35,000+ classroom projects posted by schoolteachers on DonorsChoose.org. No matter what you think of crypto, this is simply amazing.

Why it matters: Conductive is focused on the Series B funding gap, which has widened as firms move earlier or later in the capital cycle.

Origin story: Lai and Yeh have been friends since their earliest post-college days, sharing a SoMa apartment with Kabam co-founder and ex-CEO Kevin Chou.

The BFD

Source: Giphy

Francisco Partners has agreed to buy payments and commerce technology company Verifone (NYSE: PAY) for around $3.4 billion (including nearly $850m of debt), or $23.04 per share (54% premium over Monday's closing price).

Why it's the BFD: Because this is a very high-stakes turnaround, as Verifone shares closed yesterday at their lowest level since late 2009.

Timeline: The deal includes a "go-shop" period that expires on May 24.

Other parties: British Columbia Investment Management is joining Francisco on the buyside, while Qatalyst Partners represented Verifone. Prior Verifone owners include buyout firms Gores Group and GTCR.

Bottom line: "VeriFone, whose point-of-sale card readers are retail staples, has struggled with delays in transitioning to chip-card technology in the U.S. as a lengthy certification processes for the new payment terminals delayed domestic sales. The firm also faces increased competition from Silicon Valley upstarts such as Square." — Bloomberg

Venture Capital Deals

🚑 Alan, a French health insurance startup, raised $28.3 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led, and was joined by Xavier Niel and seed backers CNP Assurances, Partech and Portag3 Ventures. http://axios.link/S2u0

•Directly, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based “AI for customer service” startup, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Northgate led, and was joined by Microsoft and return backers Costanoa Ventures and True Ventures. www.directly.com

•Holberton School, a two-year coding school, raised $8.2 million in Series A funding from Daphni, Trinity Ventures and Omidyar Network. http://axios.link/nNN9

•Eporta, a London-based B2B interior decorating marketplace, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Canvas Ventures led, and was joined by LocalGlobe, Oxford Capital Partners, Talis Capital and Samos Ventures. http://axios.link/7XMl

🚑 Nutrino, an Israel and San Francisco-based provider of nutrition-related data services and analytics, raised $8 million in Series A funding from Pereg Ventures, Nielsen Ventures and Gandyr Group. www.nutrinohealth.com

•TVSquared, a Scotland-based provider of TV performance analytics and optimization solutions, raised $8 million in new funding. West Coast Capital led, and was joined by Scottish Investment Bank. www.tvsquared.com

•Chargifi, a London-based wireless power charging platform, raised $7 million in new funding. Accelerated Digital Ventures led, and was joined by HP Enterprise and Firstminute Capital. www.chargifi.com

•Carbon Black, a Waltham, Mass.-based maker of endpoint security software, has filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker CBLK with Morgan Stanley listed as lead underwriter. The company reports a $56 million net loss on $162 million in revenue for 2017, and raised more than $230 million in funding from firms like Accomplice (17% pre-IPO stake), Highland Capital Partners (14.9%), Sequoia Capital (9.9%), Kleiner Perkins (8.8%), .406 Ventures (7.7%) and The Blackstone Group.

•Domo, a Utah-based data management and analytics company, has picked Morgan Stanley to lead its upcoming IPO, sources tell Axios.

•Huya Broadcasting, a Chinese e-sports video platform being spun out of YY (Nasdaq: YY), has filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/NvgX

•People’s Insurance Group of China (HK: 1339), owner of China’s largest non-life insurer, is prepping a Shanghai float that could raise more than $1.6 billion. http://axios.link/bR6b

⛽ Sinochem Group of China has picked banks for a $2 billion Hong Kong IPO for its key oil assets, according to Reuters. http://axios.link/JBjs

•Zuora, a Foster City, Calif.-based provider of subscription billing software, increased its IPO pricing terms from $9-$11 to $11-$13. It still plans to offer 10 million shares, and trade on the NYSE under ticker ZUO with Goldman Sachs as lead underwriter. Zuora has raised around $250 million in funding from backers like Benchmark (11.1% pre-IPO stake), Wellington Management (9.4%), Shasta Ventures (8.3%), Tenaya Capital (6.6%) and Redpoint Ventures (6.5%).

More M&A

• Bayer has received DoJ approval for its pending $62.5 billion buyout of Monsanto (NYSE: MON), per the WSJ. http://axios.link/vdWp

•L’Oreal (Paris: OREP) has been picked as the preferred bidder for a 70% stake in South Korean cosmetics and fashion firm Nanda, in a deal that could be worth around $375 million, per a local media report. http://axios.link/aJjT